People are worn out : Sydney restaurants struggle with reduced takeaway spend during lockdown
Callan Boys
Photo: Louise Kennerley
Flavio Carnevale could do with a good lie down. The owner of Rushcutters Bay Italian restaurant Marta has been in the kitchen from 2am most days over the past four weeks, topping tarts, rolling scrolls and kneading big slabs of pillowy Roman focaccia.
From 7.30am to 3pm, Carnevale serves his fresh pastries and greets regulars behind Marta s marble counter; by 5pm the chef is back on the pans to cook takeaway gnocchi and parmigianas. Flavio Carnevale says this lockdown has been a greater challenge than when coronavirus restrictions were introduced in March last year.
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In February, in seat 610, I joined more than 1500 people for the World’s longest lunch in Fitzroy Gardens. It was the opener to the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival. The three-course lunch menu was designed by Chef Shane Delia and Patissier Adriano Zumbo. Shane, head chef of Maha in Melbourne, used locally sourced produce to create an entree and main course with his Middle Eastern bent.
A salmon tartare with pops of pomegranate and harissa mayonnaise was topped with a delightfully crisp Tunisian brik pastry wafer, the wine match a 2013 Robert Oakley Signature Series Margaret River chardonnay.